SC Aug18 Digital Orig - Retail Destination · 24 Marketing – How to make your website work harder. REGULARS 30 Data – Retail facts & ﬁgures 35 People – Intu takes bugs on

August 2018 • £8.00

10 Hammerson Retail landlord sets out new strategy

20 Security Centres face up to multiple threats

24 Marketing Make your website work harder

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CONTENTS

CONTENTSNEWS & ANALYSIS 04 First signings at 02 outlet revealed06 Koreans buy in Birmingham09 IKEA launches city centre format10 Shakeup at Hammerson12 CVAs face legal challenge13 Retail property reclassified

FEATURES

14 Food & Beverage – Competitive socialising comes of age 20 Security – Centre security teams now have to deal with multiple threats.24 Marketing – How to make your website work harder.

REGULARS

30 Data – Retail facts & figures35 People – Intu takes bugs on tour35 Moves – All the latest job moves

Hammerson has come out fighting after taking a beating from the media and the markets over its clumsy handling of the intu and Klepierre bids earlier this year. Focussing on top-tier malls and premier outlets allows Hammerson to build on its

existing strengths. And the move to cut the amount of floorspace dedicated to department stores and fashion brands will allow it to differentiate its malls with a more experiential offer.

Equally cutting back on de-velopment looks sensible in an uncertain retail climate, but de-ciding on which mega-project to ditch – Brent Cross or Croydon – must have been challenging. I suspect the attitude to a delay by the respective partners – Ab-erdeen Standard or URW – may have been the deciding factor.

By committing to £1.2bn of disposals to pay off debt and buy

back shares David Atkins and his management team hope to drive up the share price, justifying the assertion they made in the Spring that Klepierre’s bid of 635p a share undervalued the business. However, it remains to be seen if this is sufficient to appease disgruntled sharehold-ers. So far the share price has re-mained unmoved and Klepierre is free to come back with a new offer in October.

Graham ParkerEditorShopping Centre

Editor’s letter

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NEWS

4 | SHOPPING CENTRE AUGUST 2018 www.shopping-centre.co.uk

First signings at 02 outlet revealedAEG and Crosstree Real Estate Partners have revealed their vision for Icon Outlet, the 210,000-sq ft premium urban outlet that opens from this October under the famous tented roof of The O2 in Greenwich, south-east London, bringing shop-ping to the world’s number one en-tertainment venue for the first time.

Together with the construction of

a 50,000-sq ft cinema extension for

Cineworld and a 30,000-sq ft trampo-

line park, leased to Oxygen Freejump-

ing, the UK’s leading operator, the O2’s

offer is being evolved to reflect the

consumer-led convergence of retail,

Four sign in CorbyEuropa Capital and Sovereign Centros have signed leases for a total of 2,500 sq ft with jeweller Warren James, Eurochange, Electr-omist and expanding local estate agent Chris George.

The Europa Capital and Sovereign

Centros partnership acquired Corby

Town Shopping & Willow Place in March

2015. The shopping centre comprises

800,000 sq ft, providing 146 retail

units, plus offices and residential. The

centre is anchored by Primark, H&M,

TK Maxx, Wilko and Boots. Other key

Hammerson welcomes fashion giants to BristolHammerson’s Cabot Circus is due to welcome H&M’s & Other Stories and Inditex’s Bershka to Bristol. Located in prime retail pitches on the ground floor of Cabot Circus, the new & Other Stories and Bershka stores of 12,682 sq ft and 8,416 sq ft respectively will cater for demand from youthful style-conscious shoppers, offering a range of clothing and accesso-ries in eye-catching double-height shops, designed to engage and appeal to their target consumer demographic.

The deals represent a renewed

commitment by global retail giants

H&M and Inditex. H&M already trades

its main façade as well as Cos and

Monki at Cabot Circus while Inditex

already has Zara and Pull & Bear

stores in the centre.

Ian Mitchell, UK commercial di-

rector at Hammerson, said: “As one

of the UK’s major retail hubs, we are

pleased to see appetite from major

retail groups to take further space at

Cabot Circus. Providing a varied and

high quality fashion offer for our shop-

pers is key to ensuring Cabot Circus

remains the region’s leading retail and

leisure destination.”

tenants include River Island, New Look,

Dorothy Perkins/Burton, JD Sports,

Clarks, Costa Coffee and Peacocks.

Jack Gordon, development and asset

manager at Sovereign Centros, said:

“Overseeing the asset management of

the town centre has allowed us to relo-

cate and right-size existing tenants to

make way for some of the new names.

This is alongside a number of recent and

ongoing lease renewals, upsizes and

lease re-gears that have demonstrated

commitment to the town centre and its

ever-growing resident population.”

leisure and entertainment. In total,

over 75 per cent of the space under

development is let or under offer.

Consisting of 85 stores and 35,000 sq

ft of new restaurants, cafés and bars, Icon

Outlet will provide the best of accessible

premium fashion and lifestyle brands.

Leading UK and international retailers,

such as Hackett, Ted Baker, Guess, Gant,

Calvin Klein, Crew Clothing, Jack Wills,

Kurt Geiger, Aspinal of London, Levi’s,

Pepe Jeans, Clarks and Skechers are

among the brands to have signed already.

Alistair Wood, executive vice presi-

dent for real estate and development

for AEG, said: “Icon Outlet is the most

relevant retail and leisure destination

set to open in Europe this year.”

CBRE and CWM are the retail leasing

agents for Icon Outlet.

NEWS


Koreans buy in BrumIn the biggest out-of-town invest-ment deal of 2018, KKR has sold its retail park at Junction 9 on the M6 to Hana Financial Investments and Korea Asset Investment Manage-ment for £175m.

The park was acquired by KKR’s Real

Estate Opportunity fund together with

its operating partner Quadrant Estates

in 2014 by piecing together three sep-

arate ownerships at a cost of £123m.

In addition to amalgamating the

three distinct parks to create one ho-

mogeneous shopping park, Quadrant

consolidated Curry’s and PC World,

sub-divided 49,000 sq ft of vacant

space and developed 33,000 sq ft

of new space including four new res-

Grosvenor launches new Mayfair destinationConsultation has begun on the development of the South Molton Triangle in Mayfair. Land-lord Grosvenor has been working with Westminster City Council on options for the site bounded by Davies Street, Brook Street and South Molton Street. The area is well-known as the home of Grays Antiques market and lies immediately opposite the new Elizabeth Line Bond Street West station. It also encompasses a number of narrow side streets which Grosvenor believes, with investment, can be used to safely disperse pedestrians from the new station and provide other services to the area.

Grosvenor executive director

Simon Harding-Roots said: “The West

End is currently ill-equipped to cope

with the levels of pedestrian traffic

we already see every day, let alone

the arrival of thousands of extra visi-

tors expected from the Elizabeth Line.

Reef lands Gravesend schemeReef Group has replaced Edinburgh House on the Heritage Quarter scheme in Gravesend after agree-ing a deal with Gravesham Council which will see the transformation of the St George’s shopping centre and open up development opportunities in the Eastern and Western Quarters of the north Kent town.

Under the arrangement the council

has entered into a head lease arrange-

ment with Aviva Investors to provide the

funding for the works to take place. As

part of this deal the council has entered

taurants. All the units were pre-let to

retailers including M&S, JD Sports, So-

fology, DFS, Nando’s, Costa and Smash

Burger at rents of up to £45 psf. This

increased the rent roll to £2m pa as

well as driving increases in customer

numbers and frequency of visits.

Guillaume Cassou, head of European

real estate at KKR, said “We backed a

fundamentally good asset in need of

repositioning and Quadrant implement-

ed an intensive business plan over four

years that has resulted in a great end

product, which we have now sold to

long term income-focussed capital..”

KKR and Quadrant were represented

by JLL and Wilkinson Williams. Hana and

KAIM were advised by Montagu Evans.

Many of Mayfair’s pavements are too

narrow, routes were built for a differ-

ent era and, perhaps counter intuitive-

ly, there are not enough services for

those living in and visiting the area.”

The proposals include the crea-

tion of inviting and safe pedestrian

routes bordered by new mixed-use

buildings, which will allow both resi-

dents and local workers to continue

to enjoy Mayfair even as pedestrian

numbers grow.

into an exclusivity agreement with Reef

Group in relation to the Eastern and

Western Quarters of Gravesend. This

will allow Reef Group sufficient time

to develop their proposals for the site,

working with the council.

Council leader Cllr David Turner

said: “By working with Reef Group,

we will stabilise and invigorate the

retail environment of the St George’s

shopping centre by introducing a

leisure offer and improve the centre’s

signage and branding, walkways and

general environment.”


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NEWS

IKEA launches city centre formatIKEA has unveils plans for a brand new shop on London’s Tottenham Court Road, as part of a new global city centre approach. The new shop is due to open in Autumn 2018 on the former Mulityork site and will specialise in helping people with larger-scale home projects, such as a new kitchen or bedroom.

This is the first step in the retailer’s

revised strategy, which will focus on

city centres, enhanced customer ser-

vices and digitalisation. In addition to

the new Tottenham Court Road shop,

IKEA is currently exploring other loca-

tions in London for similar outlets as

well as opportunities to test and trial

different formats in the city centre.

IKEA will also be opening its leading

sustainable store in Greenwich in

2019, which will offer a variety of key

features to help Londoners live a more

healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Javier Quiñones, IKEA UK & Ireland

country retail manager, said: “In a

fast-changing retail environment, the

opening of this new city centre shop

Delancey wins Elephant & Castle consentAt the second time of asking De-lancey has won Southwark Coun-cil’s approval for the demolition of the 50-year-old Elephant & Castle shopping centre in South London and its replacement with a mixed-use development. The mix of affordable housing has been amended since the first application was thrown out in January 2018 to include more council housing.The proposals included:

• Around 170,000 sq ft of leisure,

shops and restaurants

• up to 1,000 new homes for rent

• A new building for London

College of Communication and

University of the Arts London

• New Northern Line entrance and

Mermaid catches EverymanSchroder UK Real Estate Fund has signed a deal to bring Everyman Cinema to Cardiff’s Mermaid Quay, as part of the strategic repositioning of the 150,000-sq ft mixed-use des-tination on the waterfront in Cardiff Bay. Plans include a comprehensive refurbishment of the public realm, in line with Cardiff Council’s ambitious vision for the future of the Bay.

The 11,500-sq ft five-screen bou-

tique cinema will be Everyman’s first

opening in Wales and will trade along-

side Mermaid Quay’s vibrant mix of top

high street and independent food &

beverage brands. It is expected to open

in Autumn 2019.

Mermaid Quay, which will mark its

20th anniversary next year, attracts

around 5.5 million visitors a year. SREF

recently secured consent for a pro-

gramme of improvement works that

will transform the scheme, creating a

marks an exciting development for the

IKEA business as we continue to inno-

vate and transform to better meet the

needs of our customers.

“Urbanisation and inner-city living

are trends that continue to dominate

the market. By launching this new

approach and investing in our online

offer and services, we are working to

ensure IKEA remains affordable, con-

venient and sustainable, both now and

in the future.”

more contemporary dockside feel in

keeping with Mermaid Quay’s spectac-

ular waterfront location.

SREF investment manager Harry

Pickering said: “This has always been

an unrivalled location and our trans-

formative plans will further maximise

this, ensuring Mermaid Quay retains

its status as one of the most popular

leisure locations in Wales.”

ticket hall and improved access

to Elephant & Castle mainline

railway station

• 2.5acres of high quality public realm

Delancey’s investment director

Stafford Lancaster said: “Our propos-

als offer a once-in-a-lifetime oppor-

tunity to deliver a new town centre

for the area, with each of these ele-

ments dependent on being delivered

together. This includes a modern

transport system, and a commitment

to maintaining the area’s unique and

vibrant culture. The new town centre

will include a range of high street

and independent retailers, enhanced

restaurant and leisure opportunities

and much - needed housing on a site

where there is currently none.”

ANALYSIS



ANALYSIS

SHAKE-UP AT HAMMERSONHammerson quits retail parks and postpones Brent Cross extension

Faced with a potential shareholder revolt in the wake

of its abortive mergers with intu and Klepierre,

beleaguered shopping centre investor Hammerson

has unveiled a new strategy to focus on core areas

of business.

The company will exit the out-of-town retail sector and

cut back on its development exposure. It will now focus on

prime city centre malls, primarily in top 15 European cities,

and premium outlets across Europe.

At the same time, in a bid to enhance shareholder returns,

Hammerson is launching a share buyback programme and

reducing debt. Head office costs will also be cut.

The strategy review was unveiled along with the

company’s half-year results, which showed the size of

the challenge facing chief executive David Atkins and his

management team. Net rental income was down 3 per

cent year-on-year at £178.5m; retail sales in the UK were

down 2.5 per cent and footfall in the UK down 1.6 per cent,

although in France sales were up 2.9 per cent and footfall

up 2.3 per cent. Occupancy stood at 97.2per cent and the

period saw a small uplift in leasing volume at UK shopping

centres from £6.6 to £6.8m.

However, the company described “an unusually turbulent

retail backdrop” which saw 104 units across the portfolio

enter administration or CVA, of which 87 are still trading.

These slashed net rental income in the first half by £2.1m

and the full year impact is anticipated to be £5.8m or 1.5

per cent of Hammerson’s current rent roll.

Overall profits for the six months ended 30 June 2018

were flat at £120m.

Against this backdrop, chief executive David Atkins

unveiled the results of a strategic review of the business

drawn up with management consultants McKinsey. He

explained: "Our results demonstrate the resilience of our

business. We are taking tough decisions and have absolute

conviction in our ability to deliver. By reprioritising our

capital deployment and repositioning our portfolio, we will

accelerate future shareholder value and returns."

In practice this means stepping up the pace of disposals, in-

cluding the complete withdrawal from the retail parks market.

Hammerson had been aiming to sell £500m of stock this year

but the target has been raised to £600m. This target includes

July’s sale of two retail parks for £164m, significantly 10 per

cent down on their December 2017 valuations.

The proceeds will be used to pay down debt and £300m

has been earmarked for share buybacks to bolster the

share price. Management is under pressure to achieve a

share price of 635p, which Klepierre offered for the com-

pany in April.

Withdrawing from the out-of-town market will trim oper-

ating costs and long-standing chief investment officer Peter

Cole will retire at the end of 2018. Simon Travis will assume

responsibility for investments, and Mark Bourgeois for devel-

opment. Jean-Philippe Mouton will also step down from the

board but will stay on as head of the French business. Overall

the company is targeting £7m of cost savings annually.

Hammerson is also cutting back its UK development pro-

gramme. The planned redevelopment of Brent Cross, which

would more than double the size of the scheme, has been

put on ice. But the company says it remains committed to

the redevelopment of the Whitgift and Centrale shopping

centres in Croydon where it is in a JV with Unibail Rodamco

Westfield. The CPO process is expected to be triggered

shortly with a view to starting on site in 2019.

The changes will leave a slimmed-down Hammerson

with a clear focus on two sectors: prime city centre malls

in the UK, France and Ireland and premium outlets across

Europe, held through its stakes in operators Value Retail and

VIA Outlets.

Specifically within shopping centres, Hammerson intends

to lessen its reliance on fashion brands and department

stores, according to Atkins. He explained: “Our customer

and retailer offer will be amplified, and this includes a step

change in our retailer line up. We will reduce the amount of

floor space let to department stores and high street fashion

as we actively focus on the latest consumer trends and

take bolder steps to provide the best retail mix.”

This will mean a broader retailer line-up: shrinking

department store space by a quarter and high street

fashion by a fifth, and replacing them with differenti-

ated brands, aspirational fashion, leisure, events and

lifestyle spaces.

Initial reaction from the market was less than ecstatic,

with the share price barely unmoved at 540p.

ANALYSIS


HOUSE OF FRASER CVA CHALLENGEDA group of landlords has launched a legal challenged to department store group’s controversial CVA proposals

A group of landlords represented by restructuring

firm Begbies Traynor and JLL has launched a

legal challenge to House of Fraser’s CVA on the

grounds that it is unfair to certain creditors as

well as containing procedural irregularities. The petition

in the Scottish Courts has been expected ever since a

majority of creditors voted to accept the CVA which would

see the closure of 31 stores..

The petition has been lodged by Mark Fry of insolvency

specialist Begbies Traynor and Charlotte Coates of JLL, who

have been advising House of Fraser landlords during the

CVA negotiations. In a statement they said: "As far as we are

aware, this is the first such instance of a legal challenge to

a CVA in Scotland, which has been filed to seek to ensure

that landlords, many of whom represent the pension funds

of the man on the street, are not unfairly treated in the

House of Fraser CVA or future CVAs."

They continued: “Having worked with Mr Philip Holden and

drydensfairfax solicitors and based upon opinion from legal

counsel, our group believes that certain landlords have been

unfairly prejudiced during this process and that there have

been alleged material irregularities in the implementation

of House of Fraser’s CVA. Our clients have therefore taken

the decision to formally file a legal challenge to the CVA, to

protect their interests and seek to ensure that landlords are

not unfairly treated in the same way in future CVAs.

"We strongly believe it to be unjust for the existing share-

holder in House of Fraser to receive £70m of value, the

details of which were not communicated initially, whilst cer-

tain landlord creditors are shouldering the financial impact

of the process. It is our view, and that of our legal counsel,

that landlords have been disproportionately affected during

this CVA process; not only compared to other creditors,

but also to how they could have been treated if alternative

routes to rescuing the business were fully explored.

“As a group, landlords experienced a complete lack of

meaningful engagement and transparency from the outset

of the House of Fraser CVA process, despite repeated re-

quests for details on how the company is expected to trade

over the next seven months under the CVA. To date, no in-

formation has been provided to our landlord group, with no

guarantees that the business will continue, leaving landlords

unable to reasonably assess the likelihood of success or

otherwise of the company’s future rescue plan.

“CVAs were designed as a means to rescue a business,

not simply a tool to shed undesirable leases for the benefit

of equity shareholders. They should set out a clear plan for

the sustainable future of that business and the proposals

should not be disproportionately detrimental to or preju-

diced towards a targeted group of creditors. Our landlord

group believes that House of Fraser and its advisors have

failed on both counts.

“It is our collective view that the retail CVA process in the

UK has become fundamentally flawed and needs correct-

ing. Applying a 75 percent arbitrary discount to the value of

landlords’ claims has no basis in law and impacts the likely

outcome of the vote given that those landlords who will lose

out have their voting rights and ability to object or negotiate

severely curtailed. The application of the discount clearly

means that dissenting voices are more easily silenced.

“As commercial landlords in the retail sector are often

pension funds, representing the retirement income of the

man on the street, we believe it is important that the recent

approach to CVAs is tested in the courts rather than be al-

lowed to further prejudice landlords while undermining the

value and attractiveness of UK real estate as an asset class.”


ANALYSIS

RETAIL REDEFINEDCalls for a new classification of shopping centres to match changing shopper patterns

T rade body Revo has launched an industry-wide

consultation with a view to establishing a formal

classification structure for retail assets in line

with global industry standards. The UK does not

currently have its own established classification for defining

the spectrum of retail properties and Revo is therefore

seeking to develop a classification that can be adopted

across the industry, to provide clarity and properly reflect

the diversity of retail asset purposes in the UK today.

Revo president Mark Williams said: “The retail landscape has

undergone monumental change in the last five years, and the

way that we, as an industry, describe retail assets needs to

follow suit. The case for this is clear; The descriptions ‘primary’

and ‘secondary’ are anachronistic, subjective and too simplistic.

We need a wider, more objective range of categories which

recognises that different locations fulfil different consumer

needs, and which will support a more accurate assessment of

assets. Investors, banks, analysts and valuers are all asking for

better clarification, and this will provide it.”

Currently the only widely used shopping centre classi-

fication in Europe and the UK is the International Council

of Shopping Centers’ classification. It is used by real estate

advisors for market overviews, international comparison

studies and statistical purposes. Unlike the ICSC’s US

classification, the European equivalent is focused mainly

on the size of the scheme and does not take into account

the specific characteristics of different types of shopping

centres. There is no UK-only classification.

Revo has produced a proposed draft classification that

splits centres into three broad categories – ‘Regional’,

‘Local’ and ‘Specialised’. Within each of these groups,

three subcategories are proposed to provide clarity over

purpose and function. Revo is inviting the industry to

debate and agree the objectives, outputs and outcomes

of this work, along with the specific language within the

classification. A wider survey-based consultation will also

be undertaken to generate the broadest possible input

into this important work.

Revo’s aim, subject to feedback, is to publish the new

classification at its 2018 annual conference which takes

place between 18 and 20 September in Manchester.

Revo CEO Ed Cooke said: “This is an important and

influential piece of work, and as such we want to ensure

that we get thorough input from as wide a range of industry

professionals as possible. We have developed a proposed

framework, which is based on a considered assessment of

current thinking and research into this topic globally. We

intend to refine this over the coming months to develop a

credible and relevant classification that will be adopted by

the UK’s retail property industry.”

CATEGORY DEFINITION TYPICAL SIZE TYPICAL ANCHORS

CATCHMENT AREA/DRIVE TIME

Regional (Schemes serving customers from a larger region/beyond town area)

Super Regional Centre

Standalone “destination” shopping centre characterised by exceptional retail and leisure offer, serving large catchment area. Typically anchored by two (or more) department stores. Long dwell times, high footfall, typically used for monthly/quarterly shopping trips. High usage of F&B and leisure offer.

1m sq ft+ 2+ dept. store 1hr+

Mid-Regional Centre

Principal retail offer in major city centre locations (top 25) or smaller standalone, with strong retail and leisure offer, serving large catchment area. Typically anchored by major department store with strong supporting fashion and well-used leisure offer. Typically used for weekly/monthly shopping trips.

750k sq ft + 1+ major stores > 1 hr

Sub Regional CentrePrincipal retail offer in large city/town centre locations (ranked 25-50), with strong an-chor store and predominantly supporting fashion (wants) focus. Appropriate supporting leisure offer. Typically used for weekly shopping trips.

500k sq ft+ 1 strong store > 45 min

Local (Schemes oriented toward local customers)

Community Centre

The principal shopping destination for the immediate catchment, used for daily /weekly shopping trips, with a strong representation from “needs” based retailers. Likely to be the commercial focus and foremost retailing pitch in the town. Highly likely to incorporate the town’s main shoppers car park.

250k sq ft+ < 30 min

Neighbourhood CentreA centre which constitutes a non-dominant part of the town’s wider retail offer, or the dominant retail offer in a smaller catchment, playing an important but not necessary principal role in retailing in the area.

100-250k sq ft < 15 min

Convenience Centre Convenience centre - easily accessible, serving the daily needs of the direct local catchment. Highly likely to be underpinned by strong supermarket offer.

<100k sq ftTypically

supermarketImmediate locality

Specialised-purpose centres

Outlet Mall Specialist centre that comprises manufacturers' and retailers' outlet stores, typically let on flexible/turnover leases, offering brand-name goods at discounted pricing.

London Suburban Centre Local catchment-focused town centre schemes, 200,000 sq ft+, predominant offer within densely populated area.

Transport Hub Retail in public transport networks: airports, railway stations, tube stations

FOOD & BEVERAGE


COMPETITION IS KEY


FOOD & BEVERAGE

As leisure continues its integration into malls, what’s next in the world of competitive socialising?

FOOD & BEVERAGE


F rom bowling alleys and bingo halls, to pub games

like darts and pool, to multiplayer video games, the

concept of competitive socialising is nothing new.

People like to have an excuse to come together and

these activities give them a viable reason to do so.

In the past few years there has been something of a re-

naissance in competitive leisure in the commercial market,

with a notable rise in the number of escape rooms, tram-

poline parks, climbing walls, and table tennis halls. There is

definitely a growing desire for fun, the question is what will

be the next trend to sate this consumer desire?

At the forefront of innovation in the sector is Adam

Breeden, who co-founded boutique bowling alley All Star

Lanes befor launching founder of Social Entertainment

Ventures. SEV has brought to the market a number of so-

cialising concepts including: table tennis concepts Bounce

and Ace Bounce; cutting-edge mini golf phenomenon

Puttshack; social darts concept Flight Club and, coming to

the market next year, Hijingo!, an update on the traditional

bingo format.

Format wise, each of SEV’s creations brings together the

experience of going to a restaurant-bar and doing an easy-

to-pick-up activity. Bowling, darts, mini golf and table tennis

are all relatively straightforward concepts that require little

explanation before you can get going with them, which is

ideal in a venue that also promotes alcohol consumption.

The point of each venture is to create a unique selling

point that will allow the venue to compete with other

F&B businesses. In an interview with The Soulmate Blog,

Breeden said: “The thing with Bounce and concepts like

it such as All Star Lanes and Flight Club is that if you have

a choice of going to a great bar or restaurant, or you can

go to the same great bar or restaurant but included in the

experience is this incredible sociable activity, why wouldn’t

you opt for the one with the fun activity?”

Bowling is no new concept, and the boutique offering

All Star Lanes has been around for over a decade. Since its

inception, the brand grew to five sites before the lull set

in and any hype died down, with the business struggling

to grow any further. In the past few years, it saw some re-

structuring and shifted its focus to target corporate events

and offer a higher-end menu, and has now set the goal of

expanding and opening more venues across the country.

Darts has long been a pub-game favourite, and

Flight Club goes that one step further to create a more

structured, technologically advanced take on the basic

throwing game. The game combines technology and video

game scoring, taking a two-player game up to as many

as a 400-player game. The playing area has an intuitively

controlled touch screen where you enter your name and

take a selfie, before choosing one of several game options.

There is a screen above the board which uses bespoke

technology that keeps track of the score and tell players

who is up next.

Puttshack has reinvented the mini golf market, bringing it

indoors to the bar and restaurant scene and adding a bit of

technology to breathe life into the experience. It has unique

Trackball technology which, in short, means that each ball

knows which player it belongs to, tracks how many times

it has been hit, how far it has moved, matches it against a

player’s previous visits, and above all keeps a track of the

scores, removing the risk of cheating and the need for

scorecards, leaving players with a free hand.

Another mini golf concept, Junkyard Golf, recently

announced its new permanent home at Wesgate shopping

centre in Oxford, following the success of its Manchester

and London sites. The Oxford location will host three new

themed courses fresh from the scrapyard and five cocktail

bars providing a pitstop for players.

Originally a nine-hole course made up of random

finds, ebay purchases and charity shop finds, the wonky,

thrown-together concept proved an overnight success


FOOD & BEVERAGE

back in 2015, and comes to Westgate Social, a new food

and leisure experience within the centre, this October.

Chris Legh, one of the founders of Junkyard Golf Club

said: "Junkyard is a completely different kind of night out

and we can’t wait to bring it to the brand new Westgate. It’s

the ideal venue for us and our location as the anchor of the

Westgate Social positions us alongside some of the most

exciting new food outlets in the UK. We’ll be installing three

brand-new, wacky and immersive nine-hole courses, all

supported by plenty of bars. With over 10,000 sq ft to play

with, look out for reclaimed and re-purposed installations,

slides, vintage cars, speed boats and the UV and jungle

madness that has made our venues famous. Avoid the

scary clowns though!"

Table tennis has been a big hit with the public, with

ping-pong bars opening up and down the country. Breeden

stepped down as CEO of All Star Lanes to focus on the SEV

table tennis brand, Bounce, recognising its potential, saying

in his interview with The Soulmate Blog: “There doesn’t

seem to be any kind of group social environment that

doesn’t work around a ping-pong table. We’ve had emails

from people who’ve had first dates here. Once we realised

this we’ve done specific dating events and it’s worked really

well. On certain nights of the year we’ll do parties with a

theme, such as for Christmas or Halloween. We get group

dates as well.

“One of the premium offers at Bounce is having a games

maker, where you can have a host who organises your

group through tournaments and entertainment. On Friday

nights, we have the challenge table for the venue at large,

so it’s like one big party where people who don’t know each

other come together.

“It really shows the social magic of how table tennis can

bring people together. There’s not many places where you

can go out in London and be thrown in the mix with a whole

load of people you don’t know, all rubbing shoulders and en-

gaging in an activity where you can meet people and engage

in conversations and winks across the table in a genuine fun

experience. It doesn’t even have to be alcohol-fuelled. With

Bounce, a lot of people come who have never played ping-

pong and are really there for the whole experience.”

Next up from Breeden and SEV, set to arrive in the leisure

market early next year, is Hijingo!, a new bingo concept in

partnership with Rebel Bingo creator James Gordon. Gordon

started running bingo nights in 2006 and transformed them

from small church hall events in Exmouth Market to regular

events in venues of 1,000 capacity, across UK cities and pop-

ular bingo franchises in Spain, Portugal, Beijing and America.

The percentage of UK bingo players that has dramatically

increased in recent years, according to uk-bingo.net. The

proportion of players that are under 45 years of age has in-

creased from 46 per cent to 62 per cent in the last decade,

with players between the ages of 18 and 24 now making up

700,000 of the 3.5 million players in Britain. Hijingo! aims to

capture the growing generation of young bingo players.

The venture, much like Bounce, Flight Club, All Star

Lanes and Puttshack looks to get rid of the sticky-floored,

blindingly lit, cheap-feeling, pensioner-filled stereotype

surrounding bingo halls and creating an exciting, stylish,

luxurious venue for the millennial generation. SEV plans to

unveil 20 venues over a five-year expansion period, mirror-

ing the fast roll out currently underway for the company’s

Puttshack concept, which arrived in Westfield London’s

White City development in June.

Gordon says of the partnership with SEV: “Hijingo! is

the culmination of my ten years of research, development

and operation in the world of bingo, working with my own

brands across the globe, as well as leading British bingo

brands. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better partner to

FOOD & BEVERAGE


collaborate with than Adam and the Social Entertainment

Ventures team – Hijingo! is going to completely super-

charge the billion-dollar British bingo market.”

The adult socialising market has long been dominated

by restaurants, bars, and clubbing, but there has been a

dramatic decline in the number of night-club venues in the

UK over the last decade, indicating that people are looking

for other ways to spend their money that don’t involve

staying out until three in the morning. Creating spaces that

bring together F&B and leisure is the way forward for the

industry. Also, it creates a nice place to have a bit of food

and drink until your booked slot is ready rather than the

customer going elsewhere.

While each offering tends towards a more adult demo-

graphic, they all still prove popular among family audiences,

with some of the venues offering special offers for kids and

families on certain days and at certain times, leaving it open

to every demographic and potential customer.

Their common point of bringing together a quality dining

offer and a group activity makes sense for one basic reason:

getting people to stay. If you just offer food or drink or one

round of a game then people are not going to stick around

long after they’re finished but giving them a reason to stay a

bit longer and spend a bit more money is a no brainer.

These operations come with the benefit of bringing in

a large pre-booked market, bringing in footfall rather than

relying on it. Their design also generates the ‘insta-worthy’

buzz and experience that consumers increasingly demand.

There is likely to be some hesitancy for the uptake of the

latest competitive socialising trend, given shopping centres

have long rested on the laurels of long-term leases, while

untried and untested concepts don’t have the experience to

back up their potential for long-term success.

The market is also likely to become saturated quickly

with everyone trying to cash in on the latest trend, and

so the ability to evolve is key. Taking an old favourite and

reinventing it just enough to breathe some life into it and

inspire a new generation is, for now, the way forward.

Breeden is unconcerned about oversaturation, saying

of Bounce when it opened near to the Brick Lane location

for All Star Lanes: “There’s strength in numbers. There were

concerns that Bounce would erode All Star’s business, but

sales surged up there as soon as we opened. All Star Lanes,

Bounce and Flight Club are all competing. But together

they will be building a hospitality niche market that will

compete against the hospitality sector at large. I would be

much more concerned if I was a straight bar or restaurant

operation with no USP.”

As F&B and leisure continues its integration into malls,

landlords should consider these outside-the-box concept

for their larger vacant units, creating a forward thinking

opportunity to retain an exciting anchor tenant that compli-

ments the existing tenant mix and increases footfall. It may

be a case of initially offering shorter leases to these new,

innovative brands and local traders to keep the scheme

ahead of the game.

GAME LOGS ON The rise in online and digital sales of gaming has put video game retailers such as Game in a

difficult position as gamers no longer need to go instore or queue up for midnight launches

to buy the latest releases. Enter Belong: an instore social gaming-arena concept, dedicated

to consumers playing together, throwing parties and trialling new products, and a place to

accommodate and broadcast the phenomenally huge and profitable eSports tournament market.

The concept charges consumers to use the machines, with Belong venues offering consoles and

computers with designated slots for gamers to play in. Units are separate to the Game store,

offering dedicated spaces rather than cramming them in corners and between shelf units. The

competitive socialising concept is still in its infancy, but the brand looks to open 100 new Belong

locations over the next three years.

Game CEO Martyn Gibbs put his confidence behind the development saying in an interview

about the Belong concept: “You can choose to go to the cinema, or you could choose to come

and play games with your friends in our arena. It is an absolute gaming experience that is

replicant of Ten Pin Bowling, it is replicant of a ball park. It is a leisure activity.

"When I went up to Trafford [the brand’s initial Manchester store] the week after launch, the

Arena was packed, we were full, and I sat and talked to some of the participants and I asked

them: ‘You could be sitting at home, why are you here with us?’ And the guy looked at me, smiled

and said: "I can't sit next to my mate at home, and I don't have this spec of PC." So it is really

building social activity."

"Where we have Belong, we see a far improved retail performance as well," he added. "So the

sooner that we can add more Belongs, then we will add market share within those locations. We

are positioning ourselves now to make sure we're aiding and supporting over the next three to

five years, rather than market share in one half.”


FOOD & BEVERAGE

THE RISE OF THE VEGANVeganism is on the rise and the F&B industry needs to cater for the growing number of shoppers who avoid meat and dairy products

Meat free diets have long been the butt of the

joke for a predominantly omnivorous nation,

where vegans and vegetarians are regularly

teased with remarks like “plants have feelings

too”, “oh, so you’re a hipster” and the simple, ever cutting

“but bacon!”. If you ask the average, everyday meat eater

what they think of vegans it’s usually met with a comment

about how vegans never shut up about the fact that they’re

vegan. If this latter stereotype is true, then it’s certainly,

finally, having an impact on the consumer consciousness.

“Easy access to information has made people increas-

ingly aware of the benefits of healthy eating,” says Leo Feld-

man, partner at Shelley Sandzer. “Social media particularly

has made this content more widespread and significantly

influenced the lifestyle of the younger generations.

“The obvious impact of environmental issues from the

meat and dairy industries resonates with this generation

who are more prepared to change the way they consume.

Veganism has moved from being outcast to somewhat

glamourized and restaurants are jumping on this trend and

reaping the benefits.”

When Veganuary – a pledge to live a vegan

lifestyle for the entire month of

January – launched in 2014,

around 3,300 people signed

up. Jump to 2018 and the

official sign up number is up to

168,000, and this is just the number

of official sign-ups, the actual figure likely

to be higher. The most recent study

denoting the number of vegans in the

UK was reported as being over half a

million, and the number of vegetarians

at more than double this. If you speak

enough about something then people are

going to start paying attention, and so should

landlords and leasing agents.

“Though there are few solely vegan

operators,” Feldman continues, “there are

more today than ever been before and we

are seeing a sharp increase. The vast ma-

jority of restaurants are now developing

vegan dishes to add to their menus, react-

ing to and keeping up with this trend.”

Lendlease and Invesco Real Estate, the

global real estate investment manager, recently announced

that a brand-new vegan restaurant concept, When Polly

Met Fergie, is to open its debut site at Queensgate, Peter-

borough this month. The 1,500-sq ft café style restaurant

will offer delicious plant-based cuisine with a focus on

sustainable, healthy produce including freshly made pasta

and sauces made daily. The 40-cover café-style restaurant

will provide an entirely vegan plant-based menu, in a relaxed

and welcoming and bright setting including casual dining

alongside a relaxed cocktail lounge jazz bar.

Alastair Norwell, founder and owner of When Polly

Met Fergie, a play on the film title When Harry Met Sally

replacing the characters name with those of his dogs, says

that the decision to open a vegan restaurant came after a

number of years of being vegan and looking for places that

served good vegan food.

He says: “While it has a few places that offer a couple

of vegan options, it made sense to open When Polly Met

Fergie in a growing city like Peterborough, and to be able

to be part of Queensgate shopping centre with the future

expansions plans taking place including the increased

leisure side of things.

“I think over the last few decades people have become

more conscious of where their food comes from, with

going organic, using local people etc, this for a lot of

people has been a natural progression of taking respon-

sibility for where their food comes from, and what they

are eating, and taking the step to becoming more vegan,

and with this it has become very fashionable as well.

But food is about bringing people together, and if that’s

vegan food then that’s great.”

When asked how they would draw in the non-vegan

crowds, Feldman says it will be a simple matter of building a

good reputation: “Our main aim in this concept as we see it,

is to have meat eaters eat and drink with us and leave not

feeling like they have missed out on anything.”

And on the future of the brand, he says their aim is to

expand into a few regional locations: “We have already been

approached by companies and people to take a second site

to them, which has been massively exciting for us. However,

we are very clear we need to nail the Queensgate site first,

covering all bases and make sure we have a strong team in

place so that quality or standards don’t drop if we are not

here. Once these have been achieved then we will start

looking at a second site.”

SECURITY


MANGING MULTIPLE THREATS

Shopping centres face a multi-faceted range of threats from theft

to fraud to terrorism. How is technology

helping centres juggle competing priorities?


SECURITY

The success of a shopping mall is founded in inviting

anyone and everyone onto its premises. There is no

real screening process for shoppers and creating

one would quickly reduce footfall. Most shoppers

faced with security checkpoints before they even enter a

centre or store are likely to be put off and go elsewhere,

and so centres must remain open to all in order to continue

trading successfully.

Security needs to be both unobtrusive and highly

effective. Deterrents are the most prevalent way to prevent

low-level crimes such as shoplifting and vandalism. This

usually comes in the form of security teams on patrol,

closed circuit television cameras, security tags on goods,

and warning signage.

Most centres will have all these in place and more,

and yet shoplifting remains one of the industry’s biggest

financial burdens, accounting for more than £500m of the

£700m in direct cost incurred from retail crime between

March 2016 and April 2017, according to research carried

out by online marketplace OnBuy.

The investigation found that from April 2017 to March

2018, the rate of shoplifting has increased by 4 per cent,

with 378,725 reported incidences of shoplifting – shoplift-

ing being defined as ‘theft from shops or stalls’ – in the UK

during this period.

Cas Paton, managing director at OnBuy, says of the

findings: “With the overall number of shoplifting incidents

increasing from the previous year, it’s a crime which is fi-

nancially burdening retailers. It’s unfortunate because many

owners spend a lot of time, money and energy ensuring

all aspects of their operations are running effectively and

efficiently. While shoplifting may seem difficult to prevent,

there are certain cost-effective precautions retailers can

take to deter shoplifters from targeting them. Precautions

such as training employees to identify the behaviours

associated with shoplifters and appropriate signage to warn

potential offenders about the seriousness of the matter.”

The big name brands have the financial backing to take

matters into their own hands, with most of their products

having some kind of security tagging, and many bigger units

hiring in-store security staff. The independent and small

business owners, on the other hand, lack the resources to

protect themselves and are far more vulnerable to theft. It

is they who will rely more heavily on the security provided

by the centre which houses them.

Working with independent and pop up retailers is im-

portant on every level, and making sure they feel safe and

secure in their business will make them feel like welcome

part of the centre. Paton says it is beneficial to make sure

they know basic, inexpensive ways to reduce and prevent

shoplifting, such as: making sure their stock and inventory

are lined to easily spot things going missing; having a strong

employee presence to make potential shoplifters feel

watched; recognising suspicious behaviour such as loitering

in specific areas or being overly attentive when looking at

the cashier; and finally making sure that there are signs to

inform them that shoplifters will be prosecuted.

It can also be beneficial to continue communication with

tenants and constantly remind them of security protocols,

making sure they know what action to take in an instance

of theft or vandalism, keeping them up to date with infor-

mation about security patrols and any new developments

in and around the centre that could impact their business.

Simply having a strong security team presence that checks

in with retailers on a regular basis can promote feelings of

safety and security among tenants.

HOSTILE VEHICLE MITIGATIONShoplifting is perhaps the most prevalent and costly crime

in retail, but there are far bigger threats that face the

shopping centres. Due to their level of footfall and their

exposed open nature, malls are potential terrorist targets.

Retail site owners, planners and managers have a duty of

care to ensure their shopping centre has measures in place

to mitigate the effects of vehicle attacks.

James Myatt, managing director at Townscape Products,

a company with over 40 years of experience providing

counter terror systems for towns and cities in the UK and

overseas, speaks about the latest developments in hostile

vehicle mitigation (HVM) and how shopping centre manag-

ers, developers and planners can protect visitors from an

evolving and growing threat.

“In recent years,” Myatt says, “there has been an increase

in the number of incidences of vehicles being used as an

offensive weapon with Vehicle as Weapon (VAW) attacks

most often targeting major European cities with dense

populations and familiar landmarks.

“The terrorist organisations and extremists responsible

have identified weaknesses in the infrastructure of these

cities – typically, open pedestrian spaces that leave people

vulnerable to VAW attacks.

“This type of attack requires little planning and no training

by the perpetrators and the consequences can be cata-

strophic as seen in London, Nice and Berlin.”

This, says Myatt, is where Hostile Vehicle Mitigation,

or HVM, comes in. HVM is a system of permanent or

temporary perimeter security products designed to defend

people or property from vehicular attacks.

HVM systems make open spaces, assets and activities

safer by managing vehicle access and approach. This is

done by the strategic placement of products that block or

restrict access of vehicles to pedestrianised areas.

The systems are designed and manufactured from

robust materials– including counter-terror blocks, PAS 68

bollards, PAS 68 bollards, PAS 68 vehicle barriers or plant-

ers – which Myatt says can stop a vehicle in its tracks.

Most HVM systems are installed near busy pedestrian

areas or around the perimeter of buildings that experience

significant footfall, such as a busy shopping centre. Because

of their positioning, Myatt enforces that rather than being

obvious, eyesore deterrents, these defences should be

inconspicuous and in keeping with the centre aesthetic.

SECURITY


“Townscape has global experience working with multiple

sectors and can design and manufacture to a clients’ very

varied needs,” says Myatt. “Covert HVM is designed to

be inconspicuous and go under the radar of the average

passer-by. Although it is virtually unnoticed, it provides pro-

tection without visually impairing the landscape. Aesthetic

design and clever use of materials and surfaces can make

products look inviting – often enhancing their surroundings

and even increasing the duration of stay of visitors.”

These hidden barriers can come in the form of seats,

planters, litter bins or even cycle racks, all of which can

be produced to PAS 68 specifications. Myatt explains

that with covert systems, a range of products are often

used to break up the urban environment to make it less

penetrable. Something as inconspicuous and functional as

a cycle rack can serve the purpose of stopping a vehicle

from gaining momentum.

Covert systems are particularly suited to public facilities,

such as shopping centres and areas where pedestrians

need to be kept safe as they go about their day-to-day

business without constantly reminding them of the poten-

tial risks of doing so.

Conversely, there is the option of overt HVM, designed

to act as a blatant and imposing visual deterrent to

potential assailants. Often marked with high-visibility

black and yellow hazard lines, their purpose is to boldly

demarcate pedestrian zones and discourage attackers

by clearly displaying the fact that the area is protected

against vehicle attacks.

It is a sad truth that such measures are necessary for

places as innocent as shopping centres, and though the

likelihood of an attack is incredibly slim, it is always better

to be safe than sorry. Myatt says: “Unfortunately, we live

in an age where HVM is now a mandatory consideration.

It has long been considered an irrelevance by planners,

specifiers and architects.

“Misconceptions about the image and cost of security

products have meant that their importance has often

been overlooked.

“Options now exist that allow shopping centres to be

protected without destroying their aesthetic and social

merits and moreover keeping the lives of customers safe

and reducing the risk of liabilities of the shopping centre

management and investors.”

TAILGATINGAnother growing security concern for shopping centres is

the act of tailgating, which is where access to restricted

areas is gained through turnstile/speed gates by following

closely behind the person in front. Iain Entwistle, product

marketing manager at UK security product supplier Meesons

AI, explains the problems that can arise as a result of security

tailgating at shopping centres and how it can be prevented.

“Shopping centres have many different entrances and

exits for customers, employees and delivery personnel,

which can make it very difficult to monitor who is entering

and leaving restricted areas,” he says. “Unauthorised access

to restricted areas, such as staff rooms, back offices, stock-

rooms and cash offices can pose a high security risk. Good

security protocols coupled with an effective access control

system, will therefore help reduce risk of unauthorised

access and security threats.

Tailgating, which is where a person gains entry to a building

or restricted area without presenting a valid security credential

such as an ID card or badge, is one of the most common caus-

es of unauthorised entry. It can occur at any entrance or exit

and all buildings are vulnerable to this kind of breach. It is more

common, and much easier, for an unauthorised person to gain

access into a building or restricted area by closely following

another person through an entrance, rather than duplicating

security passes or hacking an IT system.


SECURITY

“In the majority of cases,” Entwistle continues, “tailgat-

ing happens innocently and is carried out by authorised

personnel unwittingly. For example, when someone follows

a colleague through a security entrance without using their

own pass, or when someone holds the door for another

person, which people are inclined to do. In strict access

controlled environments such as back offices in shopping

centres, however, this can cause major problems as it

allows would-be intruders to gain easy entrance into sensi-

tive and restricted parts of the building.

He warns that, despite in most cases tailgating occurring

innocently, in a shopping centre it can put the safety of

thousands of people at risk, should an intruder with mali-

cious intent enter a restricted area, pointing out that these

areas are restricted for good reason.

“In some cases it could result in products or sensitive data

being stolen, or even worse gaining unauthorised access to

cash deposit safes or the entire shopping centre security

system, including the alarm system and control room,” he says.

It is for these reasons that a considerable amount of effort

has gone into developing intelligent access control systems

that prevent unauthorised access and tailgating. Many of

the latest solutions work by only permitting one authorised

person to enter or leave the building or restricted area at

once using an intelligent physical barrier; or electronically

by incorporating sensors that detect when an unauthorised

person attempts to piggyback their way into the building.

There are a number of options on the market for centres.

Security portals are ideal for preventing unauthorised

access to restricted areas, such as cash offices. Portals are

standalone air-lock units providing a high level of security

and are very effective at preventing tailgating.

“They are a good choice where 24/7 unmanned access

control is required,” says Entwistle. “Our security portals

incorporate APD (Anti Piggy Backing Device) which scans

the portal with an ultrasonic sensor to ensure that only one

person has entered. If more than one person is present in

the portal, an alarm is triggered and the transit is denied.

APD is therefore highly capable of detecting whether there

is more than one user in the Portal at any one time.”

For facilities that require a higher level of security,

Entwistle recommends that alternative glazing is consid-

ered, including anti-vandal and bullet proof specification. For

other buildings and facilities, he says it may be necessary to

incorporate metal detectors into the portal: “Further peace

of mind for specifiers and end users is available through

physical approvals that ensure the delay within ‘deter, de-

tect, delay’ to allow other security protocols to be actioned

should a tailgating attempt escalate to a physical attack.”

Entrance control solutions can also go beyond simple

security purposes, providing an opportunity for centre

managers to gain revenue from services such as bike

storage or use of washrooms where shoppers pay a small

fee to gain access to the facility.

Meesons’ Speed Gates, for example, can be operated by

coins, contactless card or NFC payments and are ideal for

use in washroom areas. “Our EasyGate SPA, is an innovative

‘Pay to Access’ Speed Gate designed specifically for public

accessed facilities,” Entwistle tells. “The gate enables organ-

isations to charge to use the facilities, day or night, ensuring

only paid users and authorised personnel have access.

“Unauthorised entry through tailgating can cause

serious issues in shopping centres. With the design of

many entry control systems now integrating anti-tailgat-

ing measures, tackling this vulnerable physical interface

with the outside world is now eminently achievable. In

addition, security access systems can not only prevent

theft from stockrooms, cash offices and staffrooms, but

in some cases can also bring in additional revenue for

shopping centres,” Entwistle concludes.

DIGITAL MARKETING


WEB WAYFINDINGWhat should a shopping centre’s website look like?

Websites are useful tools for any business, and

though it should go without saying at this

point, any consumer-facing business should

have an up-to date website for their custom-

ers that allows easy navigation to anything and everything

they might need. With rare exceptions, shopping centres

around the country all have an online presence, some more

active than others. Where many centres fall down is their

inconsistent approach to online content, favouring some

platforms over others seeing them as more impactful in

reaching their shoppers.

Daniel Graham, director at OnBrand, Alexei Lee, head of

social and PR at Fat Media and Alex Humphries, marketing

manager for My Social Agency came together to answer

the questions: why are websites so important and what

should a shopping centre’s website look like?

The first place people go for information is the internet,

and they expect that once they have put their query into

a search engine, their question will be answered almost

instantaneously with the most relevant results being served

to them.

“Websites are a must-have for any business in the mod-

ern age, and frankly, it’s surprising how many either don’t

have one or haven’t updated it since the early 2000’s,” says

Humphries. “If your shopping centre isn’t in the top four or

five results, then how are people going to know about it? Of

course, when it comes to brand awareness, there are other

media which come into play, such as print advertising and

PR, but the primary method is having a website.”

What differentiates a website from a social media feed

is the detail of information it has the power to give. While a

Facebook page might be able to convey basic information, a

website has the ability to go far deeper.

THE LANDING PAGESo a person has searched for a shopping centre online, they

click on the link to the dedicated website. What should they

be seeing? “Essentially,” says Graham, “a homepage should

drive users deeper into the website.

“A landing page for a centre website needs to present a

strong first impression because it’s the first customer experi-

ence a shopper might have. On the landing page there should

be paths for all journeys so that a user is only one click away

from satisfying the needs of their visit to the website.”

OnBrand recently conducted a survey of 1,000 people,

asking them for the most common reasons they might visit

a shopping centre’s website. The top answers were: opening

times, parking information, complaints sections, offers in

the mall, details about the facilities, and units that are up for

leasing. “If any of these are missing or hard to find then you

run a high risk of losing that shopper,” Graham says. “From

the results of our research, we would say that prominently

on the homepage should always be directions for how to

get to the centre as well as the full address and postcode,

plus trading hours.”

With any landing page, it should have a specific, obvious

purpose and be orderly, easy to navigate and nice to look

at. If it is cluttered it makes it difficult for the user to find

the information they are looking for. This can lead to them

leaving the site altogether. The easiest way to do this is to

present all the necessary sections under tabs that take you

deeper into the site.

It should, according to Humphries, include a menu which

is easy to navigate, logos of stores which are situated in the

centre, the address, links to social media and internal links

to useful content such as a map of the centre and a list of

facilities. The home page is also an ideal place to put the

opening hours of the centre.

FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES“There are a number of key features you would expect to

find on a shopping centre website,” says Humphries, “these

are: a list of shops and restaurants, a centre map, business

opportunities, how to get there, and contact information.”

The shops and restaurants are the main attraction for the

centre and the website should have a prominent section

that serves as a platform that provides all the necessary

information a shopper might need before visiting, such as


DIGITAL MARKETING

what brands are in the centre so that they can decide if

they will visit, opening times for each store, and where in

the centre they are located.

A centre map is a useful tool to help shoppers navigate

to their favourite stores, especially important in a larger

centre and for people looking to make a quick trip in and

out for a mission shopping experience picking up a specific

item or collecting an order they made online.

Explaining how to get there is also important for

people coming in from out-of-town or who are arriving

by car. Letting people know opening times, transport

links, walking directions, details about the car park and

anything else they might need to plan a visit should all be

easy to find on the website.

And finally, for disabled shoppers who are among the

most likely to research a shopping centre online before

making a trip, an area with information about disabled

access and the facilities, such as bathrooms and lifts, that

cater for their needs. Many disabled shoppers are likely to

avoid a centre if this information is not available.

Those are the main features that centre websites should

all provide, but there is always the scope for a website to

do more. As Graham says, one of the points of a website

should be to make you go deeper into what it has to offer.

One feature that Graham and OnBrand have found to be

hugely successful has been bringing offers to the home-

page. “For our clients we’ve got a widget that can be insert-

ed into the homepage that shows all the latest offers in

the centre,” he explains. “On sites where we’ve showcased

offers like this there has been a huge increase of 400 per

cent in click-throughs, engagement and repeat visits.”

Fat Media manages the website for the Carlisle shopping

centre, The Lanes, and Alexei Lee, the company’s head of

social and PR, says that a popular feature on the centre’s site

has been the stylist blog. “The regularly updated blog con-

tains fashion ideas and tips for people of all ages and now it

is one of the most visited sections on the website. Events on

the website have also proven popular as have competitions,

another excellent feature which helps drive traffic to not only

the website, but to the shopping centre as well.”

And Humphries champions the benefits of having a ca-

reers page which promotes job vacancies within the cen-

tre: “It’s just another way to drive traffic to the website, as

you have a chance of ranking for terms such as ‘retail jobs

near me’ or ‘jobs in TOWN/CITY’. This is not just the case

for organic search, as pages such as these also provide

you with landing pages for paid search (PPC) campaigns,

targeting similar phrases.”

AVOIDING OVERCOMPLICATIONThe survey conducted by OnBrand showed that 55 per

cent of users would expect a centre with a poor website

to be equally as poor in real life, highlighting the fact that

a centre’s website is an extension of its brand, and so it is

important to maintain a strong online presence. That said,

what things should centre websites avoid doing?

“There are three things that a centre’s website should

avoid: increasing the amount of effort a person needs to

find what they’re looking for; too much endless scrolling;

and most importantly it not being mobile compatible” says

OnBrand’s Graham, whose survey showed that mobile was

the most likely way that users would access a centre’s

website. He adds: “We are all on our phones when we’re in a

shopping centre, usually product checking or price check-

ing so it’s important to have an easily accessible, mobile

friendly website.”

Lee agrees, adding that If it isn’t easy to navigate, then

naturally it makes things extremely difficult for the user.

He says: “Pop-ups should also be used sparingly if it all, in

our experience, they are a proven distraction and an

annoyance to the visitor.”

HOW PEOPLE ACCESS SHOPPING CENTRE WEBSITES?

Mobile phone .........................................................................................................................................................................................................74%

Laptop ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................53%

Desktop computer ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 24%

Tablet ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13%

[source: OnBrand Survey]

DIGITAL MARKETING


Humphries says that one of the biggest problems with

websites of any kind are lag times when it comes to loading

a page, due to overloaded, unnecessarily complex interface,

and that visual appeal can do more harm than good.

“A web designer is usually a creative type of person, and

so will often add elements to your website which although

makes it visually appealing, may actually slow it down, or

make it overly complex for the average user. It is important

to think of your primary audience, and how ‘tech-savvy’

they are before putting on unnecessary ‘bells and whistles’.

“Images can be a big issue for websites.

No imagery, and the user

finds the

website dull and boring, basic stock imagery, and the user

feels like they are not having a personal experience, and too

much imagery and they’re not getting the information they

need. Add in issues around the size of the image files, and

how that contributes to site load speed, and you can find

yourself in a minefield”

All of this, he says, can contribute to elongated waiting

time for a site to load, warning of the lack of patience

amongst consumers: “Slow load speed is one of the

primary factors in why a user bounces from a website, and

statistics show that 40 per cent of people will abandon a

page which takes three or more seconds to load.

A shopping centre is itself a brand, and so having a poor

website as the OnBrand research indicates, reflects poorly

on the centre’s brand. The branding is how the shopper

remembers you and helps distinguish the centre from the

retail outlets it plays home to.

Lee says that branding is more than how a brand looks,

but is about how it feels, how it sounds and how it creates

buzz amongst its target audience.

“Every business, no matter who they are or what sector

they operate in, should have brand guidelines which they

follow religiously,” he explains. “This usually includes details

around the logo, pantone colours, fonts and should also

provide an introduction to the brand. However, in order to

get your branding right, you must conduct research into

your audience and what they respond to.

“For shopping centres, ensuring your branding is relevant

is not just important in terms of how it appeals to your B2C

audience (your visitors), but it’s also how it speaks to the

businesses within the centre, or any businesses who are

looking at a unit within it.”

DIGITAL MARKETINGWebsites are important tools. All centres should have a

website the provides the wealth of information a shopper

might need, and whilst social media is a good marketing

tool to promote events, sales, and to direct followers to the

website, a website’s reach goes far beyond what a Face-

book page or Twitter account can do, the only thing it can’t

do is attract visitors just by simply existing, it has to have

the social media accounts and search engine optimisation

tools to back it up

Graham says that social media should never replace a

website, that there is a place for all online channels, and

a centre should never restrict its potential reach: “People

operate on different channels and they need to be able to

find you on all of them. People who use social media will

find you on social media. People who browse the internet

will look for your website. If you don’t cover all your bases

then you’re missing a segment of your audience.”

Lee believes that whilst social media plays a pivotal role

for shopping centres in generating traffic, he says that even

though it is constantly evolving it should never replace a

WHY PEOPLE VISIT A CENTRE WEBSITE?

Opening Hours ....................................................................................................................................................................................................58%

Store info ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................50%

To find offers ........................................................................................................................................................................................................39%

Car park info .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18%

Centre info ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16%

Facilities details ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13%

I never knew they existed ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8%

Event information .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8%

Other .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3%



DIGITAL MARKETING

website, pulling the example of a store directory: “It simply

cannot be uploaded to a Snapchat or Twitter profile,” he

says. “Search and go is still a popular mechanism when

looking for information, this is the quickest way compared

to a social media profile where regular updates are posted

daily, making specific information difficult to find.”

He does, however, champion the many promotional and

marketing benefits that social media provides, suggesting

that while they both exist online they both serve different

parts of the online community.

He says: “Shopping centres will have a core regional

customer base along with locals to target. Social networks

offer this and can prove a very effective way to reach the

right people with the correct content. Local influencers also

help build trust with the local audience and they can help

build the rapport with local visitors and offer a true opinion

of a shopping experience.

“For two years, we’ve worked with local influencers for

the Lanes in Carlisle and it really has paid off. The centre has

a packed schedule of regular events to attract people in and

around the region. Not only that, we help them get online

exposure for these events by inviting influencers to create

content about their experiences, as well as helping the Lanes

to produce branded content that can be used on social media.”

The final string to the digital marketing strategy bow

is email marketing. It is a vital, proven method that, once

people to sign up to your newsletter, promotes visits

further down the line. Thanks to smart phones, emails are

delivered directly into people’s pockets, communicating in

a more personal way about the goings on in their favourite

shopping centre.

Humphries says that email marketing has proven time

and time again that it can be the most effective channel for

ROI. “As of 2017 for every £1 spent on email, on average it

returned £38,” he says. “Again, the results we produced for

the Lanes were nothing short of superb.”

Lee gives some best practice tips for email marketing,

saying that keeping it tight, mobile friendly, and delivering

it at a good time are all fundamental to getting users to

engage. He says “Target them when they are most active

such as when they wake up, when they’re commuting, or

in the evenings when they are scrolling through their social

media channels while watching TV. If your email takes too

long to open or is formatted wrongly for these devices,

then you will likely find that recipients unsubscribe from the

list, meaning you won’t be able to contact them again.”

As important as newsletters, social media and websites

are, they, at their core, exist to market a centre to potential

customers, and must in every way embody the brand of the

shopping centre in a positive way, providing any informa-

tion a visitor might need in less than two clicks. A digital

presence is expected in the modern world, and so making

sure a centre is presented well across every online avenue

is more important than ever.

WHAT WOULD A POOR CENTRE WEBSITE MAKE YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CENTRE?

It will just be as poor inside ................................................................................................................................................................55%

It doesn’t care about its shoppers .............................................................................................................................................. 50%

It’s an uninspiring place .............................................................................................................................................................................27%

Other .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3%


TECHNOLOGY


PLAY AS YOU SHOPintu accelerates tech trials with play as you shop video games

Shopping centre owner intu is piloting new technol-

ogy that lets people compete in giant video games

while they shop as part of its start-up incubator

programme, intu Accelerate.

Start-up business Rhythm is working with intu to test how

massive gaming experiences in shopping centres could drive

up footfall, attract younger shoppers and benefit retailers.

Its product, Piing, creates multiplayer games for big

screens that up to 200 people can take part in at a time

using their mobile phones as controllers.

Hundreds of shoppers tried the technology for the first

time at intu Merry Hill last month, taking part in a series of

games that included a dune-buggy race, a multiplayer game

of tennis and a general knowledge quiz.

intu Merry Hill’s retailers and restaurateurs got behind

the initiative by offering prizes and intu is exploring brand

sponsorship opportunities for future trials.

Six more initiatives are currently being trialled by intu in

partnership with start-up businesses as part of the compa-

ny’s drive to introduce more game-changing technologies

to the retail sector. intu became the first shopping centre

landlord to introduce its own shoppable visual search tool

this year, which matches up pictures with products from

more than 500 retailers selling on intu.co.uk, and has run a

succession of virtual reality and augmented reality experi-

ences in its centres.

David Fischel, intu chief executive, said: “We’re continuing

to explore how technology could offer intu customers an

even better experience and create new opportunities for

our retailers to thrive. intu Accelerate is empowering our

business to find more ways to innovate the retail industry in

partnership with some of the smartest start-up companies

out there.

“Hundreds of shoppers can take part in any one of

these games at a time and this created a real sense of

excitement among shoppers when we trialled the tech-

nology at intu Merry Hill. Retailers were also quick to get

behind the initiative by providing plenty of prizes for those

taking part so we think this is something we can build on

with future trials.”

Last year’s intu Accelerate fast-tracked trials of retail

robots, queue jumping apps, and online personal shoppers

into its shopping centres and online at intu.co.uk and intu

has now signed up seven more start-ups who are testing

their ideas to shape the future of retail. The programme is

run in partnership with innovation specialists L Marks.

THE OTHER COMPANIES TAKING PART IN INTU ACCELERATE THIS YEAR ARE:

CarTap – provides secure access to vehicles to deliver

shoppers’ bags straight to their cars

Grid Edge – saves money and reduces carbon

emissions by using artificial intelligence to control

energy usage

WeFiFo – an online marketplace that connects home

cooks and chefs with paying guests

Greendeck – uses AI to help fashion brands and

retailers automatically classify products into

categories and attributes

Yosh.Ai – a virtual assistant that provides a personal

shopping service

Roialty – hi-tech marketing platform that turns

anonymous social media data into valuable

customer insight


TECHNOLOGY

AHEAD OF THE GAMEIs the UK retail industry falling behind its international counterparts? asks Coniq's Sean Curtis

In a challenging period for UK retail which has seen

yet more well-known brands disappear from our high

streets and shopping centres, I was surprised to read

the findings in the recent whitepaper by Retail Week

and Yardi. While retailers want more information from

shopping centre owners, much of the data they say they

are missing from landlords is already available and I couldn’t

help asking myself whether the UK is in danger of falling

behind its international counterparts.

The well-written “Great Expectations: Unlocking shopping

centre data to meet retailers’ needs” is based on interviews

with 50 retail directors responsible for store portfolios,

each representing £50m to £10bn turnover companies.

The key findings state that retailers believe they are fully

utilising the data that is currently available from shopping

centres (74 per cent) but there is a clear outcry for owners

to “provide more information such as daily footfall figures,

average customer spend across the shopping mall and

dwell time”. It comes as a surprise to me for two reasons:

• All of this data is readily available

• Many European shopping centre operators are already

utilising this data regularly, either on a daily basis or in

some cases, throughout the day in real time.

So the question for me is “Are UK shopping centres chal-

lenging themselves enough in what data they provide to

retailers or do retailers need to rethink what data they need

from the centre operator?”

Take average customer spend, something Coniq helps

many retail destinations understand: in Europe we provide

app solutions where the centre team can check this and

average transaction value (ATV) in real time, as well as gen-

erating centre reports that they can share with retailers.

The whitepaper found that 70 per cent of retailers set

KPIs with shopping centre managers which is applaud-

able, however the current data that they have access

to means any KPIs are unlikely to be linked to ROI – at a

time when bricks and mortar needs to fight back against

the online onslaught.

Out of the respondents, 66 per cent receive data on cus-

tomer profiles and 60 per cent receive data on shopping

centre marketing spend – it would be fair to question the

evaluation of any marketing ROI without transactional data.

At best, it will be ambiguous if not linked to customer spend

and definitely inferior to how the same retailer measures its

online performance.

In addition, while customer profiles are useful, it is the

segmentation of the data to create tailored, measurable

content that is the key. Technology exists not only to

segment customers based on their value to a mall, their

shopping behaviours – or both – but then to also serve

them automated, relevant content based on a transaction.

Much as Amazon showcases with “customers who bought

this also purchased these…”, the same experience is now

possible in a bricks and mortar ecosystem which tracks

transactional activity.

Shopping centres need to help retailers’ stores behave

more like their online channel. Sharing actionable data

with retailers will engage them in the overall performance

of the mall as well as allow for “more comprehensive

performance measures” to be set (a key requirement for

the retailers surveyed).

How much would brands value the opportunity to know

that a shopping centre customer has just made a purchase

in Retailer A and that the same customer also regularly

shops with Retailer B? One might argue that the chance to

serve an automated offer at that precise moment is more

valuable than paying for an ad online when someone may

simply be at home surfing the web – this is exactly the con-

versation we had repeatedly at ICSC Recon in the USA just

a few weeks ago where this scenario is very much the goal.

Other performance measures are likely to include

greater data collaboration, for example, we are working

with a mall operator and a footfall analytics company to

explore how combining our data can improve that centre’s

performance. True footfall conversion combined with spend

conversion and ATV creates a data-set that retailers and

leasing directors alike would value.

Or take ANPR – linked to a CRM program, this API

collects data that allows the centre to identify its best

customers as they arrive – not dissimilar to how retailers

use in-store wi-fi to identify their customers.

Data provides physical retailers and shopping centres

with the opportunity to fight back by harnessing the best

elements of online shopping and combining them with

retail experience. Call me a romantic but if the retailers and

mall owners set out to redefine what data is important and

how it should be used, I believe the results might lead to a

shift in mindset that will improve both bottom line perfor-

mance and promote further collaboration.

DATA


Community malls remain resilientThe rise of online shopping has had less impact on community malls than on other forms of shopping centre, according to new research from Ellandi and Savills. The research found that fewer retailers in community malls have trans-actional websites compared to regional malls. However, click & collect has become a key driv-er of footfall to community malls, with 13 per cent of visitors using click & collect services.

The report, Retail Revolutions: Exploring the

Impact of E-Commerce on Local Physical Retailing,

highlights that despite challenges from rising

ecommerce, increased costs, structural shifts,

several CVAs, and the rhetoric that accompanies

these issues, there are positive stories in the retail

sector. Online retail continues to dominate the

growth story, but it is becoming increasingly clear

that for many brands bricks and mortar stores

remain key outlets for customers to interact with

their omnichannel offer.

While no sector is entirely immune from chal-

lenges brought on by ecommerce, Ellandi and Savills

say that community shopping centres will contin-

ue to be occupied by a mix of retailers for whom

ecommerce is a sideshow. Online trade accounts

for only 12 per cent of the UK sales of the top 100

community shopping centre brands compared

to 20 per cent in regional malls, according to the

Savills/Ellandi report. While 68 per cent of the top 10

brands present in community shopping centres have

an internet offer, compared to 80 per cent of those

in regional malls, community centres tend to focus

on goods and services that are not as readily avail-

able online, thereby proving more resistant against

moves towards online retailing.

Tom Whittington, retail research director at Savills,

said: “With a greater proportion of retailers with

no online offer, or with online accounting for a low

proportion of their UK sales, the stores in commu-

nity shopping centres remain a core and relevant

part of retailers’ businesses and one of the best

opportunities for them to engage with customers.

Ecommerce may not prove to be the major threat

anticipated for retailers in these schemes as many

of these brands offer a distinct point of difference,

with in-store service, experience and convenience

being paramount.”

Isabelle Hease, head of research and analytics at

Ellandi, added: “Click & collect has a natural synergy

with the convenience of local high street and shop-

ping centre locations, giving shoppers a purpose to

visit. According to our research, collection services

are currently used by 13 per cent of visitors to com-

munity shopping centres and are highly effective

at bringing shoppers in store and increasing basket

spend, with those who use them averaging a £40

basket spend, versus £29 for those who don’t.”


DATA

Retail parks continue to performThe latest edition of Trevor Wood Associates’ comprehensive survey of the UK out-of-town market, The Definitive Guide to Retail & Leisure Parks 2018, shows the sector continuing to out-perform other forms of retail property with high levels of occupancy, robust rents and sustained occupier demand driven in part by the populari-ty of click & collect.

During the past year, ‘second-hand’ supply has,

once again, fuelled the growth of a number of

expanding retailers. With most new development

restricted to extensions to existing ‘schemes, a

significant amount of vacant space has again been

occupied by a number of retailers over the past year.

Since peaking at 10.0% in the middle of 2013,

the vacancy rate has continued to reduce despite

a number of retailer failures. Since the beginning of

2017, tenants like Jones Bootmaker and Brantano

have been put into administration or entered into a

CVA while others such as Currys/PC Worid, Office,

Outlet and Carpetright have seen disposals, reloca-

tions and downsizing. Between them they potentially

increased the amount available by over one million

sq ft of floorspace at the end of 2017, similar to the

amount that came to the market in 2016.

The better news is that, during 2017, over three

million sq ft of floorspace was taken by retail park

tenants, although this was lower than the amount

that opened in 2016.

The ten fastest-growing retail park tenants

occupied just over 2.0m sq ft of retail warehousing

floorspace during the past 12 months and they

have occupied a total of 5.0m sq ft of additional

floorspace since 2014. This has helped to drive down

vacancy levels and the retail warehousing vacancy

rate has fallen to 4.9%, lower than at any time since

Trevor Wood’s analyses began in 2001. However,

vacancy is expected to rise in 2018.

As before, there are significant differences when

looking at vacancy by planning consent but the gaps

have narrowed this year. Much recent take up has

been by comparison goods retailers predominantly

interested in good quality Open A1 Non Food units or

by variety retailers looking for good value bulky goods

units. At the end of 2017 TWA calculated the Open A1

vacancy rate as 4.7% compared to 4.5% in 2016 with

Open Non Food units falling to 4.9% from 5.4% and

other units falling from 5.4% to 4.6%.

TWA research shows that the total retail ware-

house market grew marginally to 190.30m sq ft in

2017 from 187.34m sq ft in 2016. The proportion

taken by comparison goods retailers (excluding

DIY) once again rose to an all-time high of 57.4% in

2017 compared to 56.9% in 2016. Within the total

market TWA found that floorspace on retail parks

grew to 120.86m sq ft in 2017 from 118.28m sq

ft. Excluding DIY retailers, the share of retail parks'

floorspace in 2017 occupied by comparison goods

retailers rose to an all-time high of 62.0%, up from

61 .4% in 2016.

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give retail

a sporting

chance

SOAPBOX

The worlds of sports and retail are colliding, believes Russell ScottTwo of the biggest markets we work in are sports stadia and shopping centres. On the face of it, very different markets and customer profile, but both facing similar challenges in creating an experience that encourages their customers to arrive earlier, spend more, stay longer and return more often.

And while our biggest challenge in sport is helping

clubs turn their fans into customers; it’s becoming

increasingly clear that the focus of our work in retail

is helping turn their customers into fans.

Sporting organisations, particularly football clubs,

have customer loyalty that most consumer brands

can only dream of, confirmed by the ‘Spurs till I die’

tattoo that greeted me in the gym earlier this week.

But that loyalty comes at a price, you only have to

look at the fallout from a new owner deciding to get

‘his’ team to play in another colour to realise how

carefully loyalty needs to be handled.

Huge improvements in access to content have

driven football’s boom. TV coverage has improved

in both quality and quantity while highlights on

social media and countless websites make football

a 24/7 experience. This serves to create greater

awareness and engagement with the sport but also

means clubs are having to work hard to maintain the

appeal of the live event, making sure the matchday

experience keeps pace with the new ever-present

and seductive digital alternatives.

In reaction to this instant coffee has become

freshly ground and locked gates have opened early

welcoming supporters into fan-zones where our gi-

ant screens and production teams deliver a carefully

curated mix of content and brand activation, helping

to build the excitement all the time accompanied by

opportunities to buy merchandising, food and drink.

But the core change is important, the 90-min-

ute match isn’t enough to ensure the audience

doesn’t opt for the cinema, a restaurant or just

the sofa as an alternative. Fans’ expectations have

changed, new younger audiences expect to be

entertained and if the experience doesn’t evolve

they’ll spend their time and money on a long and

appealing list of alternatives.

Retail is facing a very similar challenge. Competi-

tion isn’t coming from the centre in the next town,

it’s coming from the device in customers’ pockets.

Choice and convenience used to be enough – acres

of car parks and a strong anchor tenant was a

recipe for success – but no matter how big your

car park it’s never going to compete with the real

convenience of not leaving the sofa and having your

purchases brought to you.

So the battleground is shifting, but just as

technology is creating the challenge, so it can be

harnessed to help address the problem. More and

more venues are using big screens to share compel-

ling content experiences allowing audiences to both

consume and contribute to the narrative and be

used as a platform to create those social moments

that help to drive genuine customer advocacy and

push them into fan behaviour territory.

But there is a challenge. To date most of the

screens we’ve installed in retail have been for adver-

tising, pure revenue generation, capitalising on high

footfall to generate welcome additional income but

without contributing to customer experience.

A new approach is needed. One that meets,

greets, moves and excites customers and one that

recognises that the audience changes, not just by

season but also by time of day and day of week.

Technology has a big part to play in shaping the

audience experience. Physical installations of large

format digital canvases create the opportunity to

engage people but it’s the content that becomes

critical, if the focus is purely commercial consumers

are sophisticated and quickly tune out.

It’s an evolving model but one that has the cus-

tomer at its heart, designing content plans that adapt

to the needs of the business and the desires of the

audience enabling a blend of experience, entertain-

ment and brand partnerships to be delivered. The idea

that the physical experience could be adapted to suit

the audience is hugely compelling. The appeal of a

higher yielding commercial model that’s accurately

targeted to the audience is convincing, even more so

if it generates enough income to fund the experience.

Who knows, if we make the experience good enough

perhaps shopping centres can charge an entry fee, or

even start selling season tickets…eveeveeveeveeven sn snn sn sn startartatarta t st sellelllllllinginginging seseeeeasoasoaasason tn tn tn tn tickickickicicketsetststse ………

Russell Scott is head of commercial at ADI.


PEOPLE / MOVES

CBRE has appointed NEIL CHURCHILL as centre director for

Festival Place, Basingstoke. He will join Festival Place from his

position as general manager at Southside Wandsworth where

he oversaw a £30m extension and reconfiguration.

COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL has strengthened its retail division

with the appointment of LIZZIE KNIGHTS as a surveyor in its

Central London agency team. She joins Colliers from BNP

Paribas, where she worked in the retail agency and investment

teams.

SAVILLS has expanded its out of town retail team with the

appointment of director ANDY HALL, who is based at the firm’s

Manchester office. His retail career to date spans 24 years,

most recently including a decade as partner in the retail team at

Cushman & Wakefield.

GCW has promoted SIMON HORNER to equity partner. He

leads the alternative sectors team, covering areas such as

hotels, retirement living, gyms, children nurseries, student

housing and drive thru restaurants.

MILLIE EVANS has joined niche retail and leisure agency HRH

RETAIL as a graduate surveyor to assist with its expanding

portfolio of high street and shopping centre instructions. She

recently graduated from the University of the West of England

with a first-class honours degree in estate management.

GVA has strengthened its restructuring offer with the

appointment of ED COOK. He brings more than 15 years of

experience and joins GVA from the National Asset Management

Agency in Dublin.

INCENTIVE FM has strengthened its senior team by appointing

CLAIRE RUMSEY as operations director. She has a background

in engineering and manufacturing and has been with Incentive

FM for the past four years in regional management roles.

Specialist asset manager REALM has grown its leasing team

with three appointments. GARETH HINE has been appointed as

a leasing manager and arrives from Lambert Smith Hampton

where he was associate director of retail & leisure agency.

WILLIAM BLAKE also joins as a leasing manager from a role

as asset manager at Capital & Regional. And MAX DELAMAIN

joins as leasing surveyor from CHD Property where he was a

commercial leasing manager.

This month’s moves . . .

Intu takes bugs on tourIntu has launched Big Bugs On Tour, a national exhibition that brings adults and children face-to-face with 12 giant British bugs at 13 intu shopping centres nationwide.

The initiative is being backed by

naturalist Chris Packham and features

12 supersized, indigenous bugs includ-

ing the honeybee, ladybird, hornet,

swallowtail butterfly and the nut

weevil. It launched at intu Lakeside and

will be on display until the end of July

before spending the next year visiting

12 other intu centres around the coun-

try including intu Trafford Centre, intu

Meadowhall glows with prideIn a first for Meadowhall, British Land has illuminated the South Yorkshire regional mall to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Pride Sheffield and kickstart its fundraising activities.

Metrocentre and intu Braehead.

The campaign to reconnect kids

and adult to nature comes as reports

show children are now better at

identifying Pokemon characters than

British wildlife, despite a £10m pledge

from Government to encourage chil-

dren to get closer to nature.

Roger Binks, customer experience

director for intu, said: “We know that

a closer connection to nature makes

people happier and Big bugs on tour is

an opportunity to help educate adults

and children on the importance of the

bugs in their gardens and put a smile

on their faces.”

Visible from the M1, Meadowhall’s

glazed roofs were lit with the colours

of the iconic Pride flag each evening

until Pride Sheffield, which took place

in the city on July 28.

step out the front


Documents

SC Aug18 Digital Orig - Retail Destination · 24 Marketing – How to make your website work harder. REGULARS 30 Data – Retail facts & ﬁgures 35 People – Intu takes bugs on